But Nobody's Home
by PhoenixCaptain
Summary: She's always just out of his reach. (Spoilers for one of the neutral endings)
Rain tumbles through the barrier.

He really _should_ get that fixed, somehow. Though the holes in the high cavern ceiling pour peaceful silver moonlight from the outside world into the throne room, it's still a safety hazard. Someday that rain will ruin his circuits. He tries to stay out of its reach, for the most part, but sometimes he can't help getting dangerously close, just to watch it splash against the golden flowers surrounding the feet of the throne.

Those golden flowers are some of the only things he's left untouched. Everything else in the Underground was in desperate need of a makeover - but for some reason, he can't bring himself to change a single thing about this throne room.

Well, except for a few posters of himself pasted all over the walls, of course - but besides that…

So, he thinks to himself, standing in the doorway of the vast room, single glowing eye piercing the night as he watches the rain fall; this room - and one other - are the only things he's left mostly untouched during his reign.

He knows his battery's draining. If it runs out completely, he's helpless - unconscious until someone charges him up again. He should probably be concerned about that, but he isn't. Not now. He can recharge later, after making a short trip.

He's done this same thing many times before. He knows just what to do by now. When the entire Underground sleeps, and when silence is his only company, he slips away from his castle. Sure, it's dangerous - many a monster wishes him dead, after all. But nothing's happened to him so far, and, well... for this particular trip, he doesn't want the company of anyone, not even bodyguards.

The elevator jerks to a stop beneath his feet. The doors slide open. A frown plays at the corners of his lips as he takes a step out.

He slowly descends the stairs carved into red stone, lava glowing fierce orange from far below. Before him a tall, boxy laboratory looms, swallowing him in its shadow. He barely casts it a glance. Instead he crosses to the large metal doors on its front, locked tight.

He reaches a gloved hand to the keypad, glowing a soft red, and rapidly presses five different numbers without even thinking about them. He's known the combination by heart for a long time now.

The metal doors gently glide open. Only blackness waits beyond them. He stands there for a moment, contemplating, shifting his weight, drumming his fingers against his hip. Why does he keep trying? Why bother? Nothing's ever worked in the past...

But he clings to the frail hope that something _will_ work, someday. So he keeps coming back.

Biting his lip, he steps into the darkness. The doors slide shut behind him, and in the sudden, utter pitch black, the faint pink glow of his eye is a pitiful excuse for a light source.

Silence. It's always like this... so empty, so lifeless. He walks forward anyway. The clicking of his heels on the tile floor and the quiet clinking of metal as he walks are the only noises to break the stillness. After a little while he turns left, hand reaching to press against a keyboard. Before him a computer screen flickers to life. A small shaft of bleak white light casts itself onto the floor, slicing like a knife through the dark.

 _Enter password._

He clenches his jaw. Those two accursed words… they've stumped him for far too long. He's tried everything to get past them - the name of her favorite foods, favorite games, her crush, even her best friends as a child. Nothing's worked. And if he can _just_ get past this stupid password screen, then maybe… maybe he'll find something she left behind, something to tell him where she went. Just something. _Anything._

He's a bit ashamed to admit it, even to himself, but just a few hours ago he went and watched that stupid cartoon she loved so much. He smiles to himself at the thought. He really is desperate, isn't he? Sure, he'd been forced to watch it with her before, but he'd never paid much attention. This time he did. It was a miserable show to slog through, but maybe…

His fingers fly across the keyboard, typing in the name of her favorite character. Hands trembling, his pinky finger excitedly slams the _enter_ key.

The simple black text that appears on the screen is something he's all too accustomed to.

 _Incorrect password._

Lips curving into a grimace, he impatiently taps a fingernail on the computer desk. What else can he possibly use as a password? After a moment of thought, he types in the name of the main character's best friend.

 _Incorrect password._

The name of the antagonist?

 _Incorrect password._

The name of the main character's favorite food…

 _Incorrect password._

He grits his teeth and resists the urge to slam a fist into the keyboard. Why won't anything work?! All he wants to know is where his best friend went off to! He wants to _find_ her! Is that too much to ask?

He's too stubborn to give up just yet. So he keeps typing. The names of the most obscure characters, the episodes they first appeared in, even the names of the episodes themselves. He can feel his spirits sinking further and further every time those two awful words appear on screen - _Incorrect password._

Why didn't she leave a note for him? Why did she have to disappear without a trace? Doesn't she know just how much this _tortures_ him, not knowing where she went or how to find her or how to _help_ her?

Fine. He'll try one more thing. One more. And then he's done. He'll give up.

For now, anyway.

Shifting his weight to one hip and nervously biting his lip, he enters an absolutely ridiculous nickname she used to call him. Something she used only when she wanted to annoy him. In truth, though… he didn't mind it all too much.

 _Logging in… please wait_

…What?

She chose _that,_ of all passwords? He stares blankly, lips parted in surprise, and can't decide if he should feel flattered or bothered. Flattered, because she used _his_ name as a password - and bothered, because he's quite sure she chose that silly nickname in particular just to exasperate him. But does that even matter? He finally has access to her computer!

Countless folders line the sides of the screen. His gaze flicks between them, wondering where in the world to start. It's so overwhelming. After all this time…

He can feel his battery draining. If he doesn't hurry, he'll run out of power and get stuck here in this laboratory without anyone to help him. Pursing his lips, he clicks on an entirely random folder and frantically scrolls through its contents. It's full of pointless stuff entirely unrelated to her research… with a roll of his eyes, he starts on another folder. Recipes she saved but never cooked. Another folder - filled with anime clips. And yet another folder, composed entirely of unfinished fanfiction. With an irritated groan, he leans forward, elbows resting on the desk, one hand cradling his chin and the other clicking through a labyrinth of useless folders. Really, did she ever do any _actual_ research?

One folder opens up to reveal a plethora of videos all captured from the security cameras she placed throughout the Underground. His brow lifts a little. Now this is somewhat interesting… is there something in here that will show him where she ran off to?

He scrolls through the videos, quickly reading their titles in his head as he goes - _First meeting with Sans. Skeleton puzzles. Snowdin. Waterfall._

 _Undyne battle._

He blinks at that one. She had watched the human's entire adventure live, all except for the Undyne battle. She'd entirely forgotten; he remembers she'd been watching that ridiculous cartoon for the umpteenth time and had missed out on the fight.

He knows he should probably scroll past it; find something a bit more relevant to him. After all, the battle against Undyne won't tell him anything. But curiosity takes over and he finds himself clicking on the video.

It starts out fairly uninteresting. Undyne hands the human a spear to defend themselves with - that's actually quite polite of her - and then she angrily throws countless attacks at the child, who dodges with suspicious ease.

What a strange child.

Absently toying with a lock of his black hair, he watches with a tired, half-lidded gaze, and thinks about clicking off the video.

Suddenly -

\- without warning, the child lunges forward, piercing the spear through an opening in Undyne's armor.

The warrior woman's eyes widen in shock.

 _No._

His jaw drops in horror. It - it can't be.

But she doesn't falter. Resolute, she attacks. Again and again. And the child dodges. Again and again. She grinds her sharp teeth together and flings spear after spear at the child before her - and they effortlessly sidestep each one.

No… she won't give up, she _can't,_ not when she bears the weight of an entire kingdom's hopes upon her shoulders… Blood trickles through her armor. Her lip quivers. She charges forward.

The human stabs her again.

She gasps in pain.

He can do nothing more than watch the events of the past, utterly helpless.

She can't. She can't die. Not now. Not when everyone needs her. Her single golden eye blazes with fierce determination, and she bares her teeth in a wide grin. She takes one weak step forward, her free hand clinging, trembling, to a spear. And here, she breathes her final words - a desperate refusal to die.

And then she dissolves. Harsh wind scatters her dust into the darkness.

His hand grips the computer mouse, shaking uncontrollably. If he's being honest with himself, he never cared too much for Undyne - but she meant so much to the other monsters. She meant so much to… to _her._ To his dearest friend. And she's gone.

 _Oh._

Realization hits him like a punch in the face.

It all makes sense now.

At first, he - he doesn't know what to feel. Disbelief. Shock. And then - the _rage._ It boils up within him, seething and poisonous, and he _despises_ that foul little human child for taking his best friend away from him. He grits his teeth and wants nothing more than their demise.

But as he stands there - alone in this empty laboratory that once belonged to her - the anger fades. The only thing left is pain.

His legs tremble beneath him. Why try anymore? He allows his knees to give out, collapsing to the tile floor with the _clunk_ of metal, fingers curling into fists.

That's where she went.

Of course.

Without Undyne, she…

No. No, no, no. He doesn't want to accept it. His entire body quivers and he desperately wraps his arms around himself.

But it's true, he knows. She's… no, they've _both_ been gone for a while now, and he finally understands why.

There's no use in looking for her.

Why didn't she come to him? Why didn't she let him help? Let him _heal_ her? That's what friends are for, aren't they? Then… why…?

Maybe it's his fault. If only he'd been there for her. If only he had constantly stayed at her side, so she _couldn't_ go off and do something as horrid as… as this. If only he'd been a better friend.

If only, if only, _if only._ For a moment everything feels futile - and he lets his eyes drift shut, exhaustion washing over him. Why get up? Why go back to the castle? Why reign over the Underground? He admits it to himself, right here and now - he's a terrible ruler. Someone else should be sitting on that throne, and he… Well, he'll stay right here. Maybe forever.

The little computer screen before him flickers off from lack of use, plunging the room into pure darkness. He wants to talk to her. To tell her how much he misses her, how he wished he could have been there for her -

\- how _afraid_ he is, all alone…

The last vestiges of his battery power fade into nothingness.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to VakaPyro for helping me with a title. I'm terrible at those. xP**


End file.
